The HBO and Governors Ball Emmy Awards After-Parties

“This year, we’re doing the Emmys on a Monday night in August, which, if I understand television, means the Emmys are about to get canceled,” said first-time host at the 66th Annual Primetime Emmy Awards, Seth Meyers, at the Nokia Theatre in Los Angeles. Even with the unusual time slot for the TV awards ceremony, it didn’t deter from the after-parties. After the last statue was handed out, guests such as Lizzy Caplan, Jon Hamm, Kate Mara, and Ryan Murphy, who clutched his shining award for Outstanding Television Movie for The Normal Heart, crossed the street in to the Los Angeles Convention Center for the Governors Ball. The room was vast, dark, and smoke machines lined the entrance, evoking a feeling of True Detective’s Carcosa even though the night belonged to Breaking Bad. The cast of Orange Is the New Black stuck close together as they found their seats amongst the room’s Technicolor landscape.

The Governors Ball wasn’t the only colorful event of the evening; HBO’s post-awards reception at the Plaza at the Pacific Design Center was inspired by the sixties fashion designs of Paco Rabanne. Bright patterns covered every inch of the space, lending a nice palette for actress Michelle Monaghan’s all-white Giambattista Valli Couture gown. “I’m going to tell you something,” shared Monaghan, “I’m so comfortable! It was the first dress I tried on.” Zac Posen, wearing custom Brooks Brothers and swaying to the live tunes of sixties-style girl groups, outfitted both Heidi Klum and Lucy Liu. The space felt a bit like a high school cafeteria, with tables taken over by hit HBO shows such a Game of Thrones, True Detective, and Veep.Julia Louis-Dreyfus, another winner, was deep in conversation and didn’t seem to care that her son was toting her award around the party. Also clad in Giambattista Valli were Girls stars Lena Dunham and Allison Williams who held court with their cast and crew beneath a colossal, white acrylic chandelier in the middle of the room. Williams, wearing Van Cleef & Arpels jewels and Brian Atwood shoes, explained her outfit without missing a beat, “It’s a skirt and a top, but I’m calling it a dress to make it simple.” As the night wound to a close and guests were ducking into their chauffeured Audis, Aaron Paul arrived, Emmy in hand, proving that the evening was still going strong and that HBO’s party is the requisite stop of the night.